Staff bios

Mark Pascoe

Chief Executive

Mark Pascoe has worked for his 30 year career in the water industry – predominately in Brisbane, Australia. He spent many years with Brisbane City Council where his most recent position was as the Manager, Water and Sewerage. He was for a brief period the Queensland Operations Manager of Woodward-Clyde Pty Ltd, an environmental engineering consultancy. He left the BCC role to take up the position of Deputy Director, International Water Association in London, which he held for three years before returning to Brisbane recently.

Mark has held positions of President, Australian Water Association; Board Member, Water Services Association of Australia; Board Member, Co-operative Research Centre, Water Quality and Treatment; Board Member, Global Water Research Coalition. Recently he has been elected as the President of the Australian Water Partnership (the Australian presence of the Global Water Partnership) and is a Director of Environment Business Australia. Mark is the CEO of the International WaterCentre where his role is to lead the development of the Joint Venture in providing solutions to Water Management issues for national and international clients.

Bronywn Powell

Program Manager - Research Partnerships

Bronwyn is an experienced project manager and environmental scientist working in the aid and community development sectors for the past 10 years. Her areas of expertise are in the social dimensions of natural resource management, particularly participatory approaches, institutional analysis and co-management. Most recently Bronwyn has undertaken interdisciplinary research in the Kongulai catchment, Solomon Islands, through the AusAID funded Australian Water Research Facility.

In her role at IWC Bronwyn has contributed variously to business development, strategic planning, project management, training programs, marketing, communications and reporting as the company has grown from three to 15 people in its first four years. Bronwyn has a growing interest in water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in developing countries and is a member of the AusAID WASH Reference Group and was part of the organising committee for the Sanitation and Water Conference 2008.

Prior to joining IWC, Bronwyn worked with UniQuest International Projects, International Centre for Environmental Management, Greening Australia and the Indonesian Institute of Sciences on a diverse range of conservation, training, institutional reform and rural development projects.  Bronwyn has a BSc (Ecology), BA (Politics) and a MEnvSc focused on community participation in catchment management.  

Fiona Chandler

Program Manager - IWM Services

Prior to joining IWC in September 2008, Fiona was the Executive officer and Team Leader for the Water Cycle Policy and Stakeholder Management Team with the Water Resources Branch, Brisbane City Council.  She has extensive experience in strategic planning, and developing and implementing integrated water cycle and sustainable water management policy across various levels of government and institutional arrangements, and at a range of spatial scales.

Fiona’s passion for water cycle management and capacity building has grown while Project Managing the SEQ Water Sensitive Urban Design Program, with the SEQ Healthy Waterways Partnership, Fiona was instrumental in establishing Queensland’s first Water Sensitive Urban Design and Sustainable Water Management Capacity Building Program “Water by Design: Creating Water Sensitive Communities in South-east Queensland”.

Fiona has been working in the fields of natural systems management, water cycle policy, integrated catchment management, land use planning , wetlands management, and surface water quality management for approximately 15 years, including time spent working with a marine non-government organization in Belize, Central America.

Fiona has a BAppSc in Natural Systems Management and will have completed her MAppSc in Natural Resource Management from the University of Queensland at the end of 2008.

Sabine Stolle

Business Manager

Sabine supports IWC staff in all administrative aspects of project management, and is responsible for management of financial data through spreadsheets. She has many years of experience in administration, office management, bookkeeping and finance management at several companies in Germany. From 1994 to 2001, she owned and operated a company evolving niche markets for clean photovoltaic energy and stand-alone power supplies. She was responsible for customer relationship management in the marketing department of Deutsche Bank Bauspar AG in Frankfurt before coming to Australia in 2005.

Barry Ball

Water Policy Manager

Barry has recently left Brisbane City Council to take up the role of Deputy Director of the newly established Global Change Institute at The University of Queensland. Part of his role is to work in the IWC as the Manager Water Policy. Barry has worked in both State and Local Government in his 35year career predominately in the water sector. His most recent roles in Brisbane City Council were the Manager Strategic Planning and Manager Water Resources.

Some of Barry’s recent achievements include the establishment of the Moreton Bay Waterways and Catchment Partnership, adoption as formal Council policy by Brisbane an integrated “whole of water” strategy and establishment of a whole of region Water Quality Monitoring Program.

Barry is on the Urban Water Advisory Committee for the National Water Commission and has held Board positions on the CRC Catchment Hydrology, CRC Coastal Zone, International Riverfoundation and Environment Professional Board at Griffith University.

Kerry Burke

Personal Assistant / Receptionist

Kerry has extensive experience in providing high quality personal assistance and administrative support. As Personal Assistant/Receptionist at the IWC, Kerry supports the Chief Executive, Mark Pascoe;  Executive Manager, Fiona Chandler and Senior Lecturer, Education and Training, Peter Oliver. Kerry left New Zealand in 2000, living in Australia before heading to the United Kingdom. Kerry has previously held positions at the Royal Society of Medicine in London and the New Zealand Treasury.

Peter Oliver, PhD

Senior Lecturer, Education and Training

Peter leads the development and delivery of International Water Centre education and training products, in particular the Master of Integrated Water Management Program. He is also involved in integrated water management research with partner universities. Peter was previously a Principal Natural Resource Officer (Science) with Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Water. His work in this role involved research on social science aspects of collaborative natural resource management, particularly water and catchment planning and management.

Dr Oliver is also Adjunct Senior Research Fellow in the Centre for Governance and Public Policy, Department of Politics and Public Policy, Griffith University. Peter has academic qualifications in ecology, land use management, education and social science and over twenty years experience in citizen participation and natural resource management education and extension, particularly in the areas of water and catchment management.

Peter Wegener

Educational Design Specialist

Peter has over 25 years of professional experience in agricultural research, extension and community development. He has worked with rural communities, government agencies, non-government organisations and universities in Australia, Africa and Asia. Peter has taught and developed both internal and externally delivered university courses in extension, community and group development. His main role at the International WaterCentre is to develop education and training products, in particular the Master of Integrated Water Management Program, into flexible modes for part-time, external and short course delivery.

Bruce Missingham

Lecturer

Bruce is an anthropologist with interests in the study of development and environmental movements in Thailand and Southeast Asia. He has a long-standing interest in social justice and education for social change, but it was the experience of living, working and studying in rural Thailand that transformed him from a school teacher into a researcher and academic. In 1991 Bruce first travelled to Thailand to spend eighteen months conducting ethnographic research on the role of village schools in community development for his Master of Education from the University of Queensland. For his PhD from the Australian National University he returned to Thailand in 1996 and 1997 to undertake groundbreaking anthropological research with the Assembly of the Poor, the first nation-wide grassroots social movement to emerge in that country.

Bruce has been involved in the development and delivery of the IWC Master of Integrated Water Management program since the IWC’s inception in 2005 in his lecturing role at Monash University, and joined the IWC staff as Lecturer in early 2010.

Jennifer Ball

Education and Training Officer

Jennifer Ball holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Science, with an emphasis on environmental ethics, from Humboldt State University in northern California. Having both a passion for the outdoors as well as teaching she found herself in the area of outdoor education, and has had the opportunity to work in numerous areas of the United States before coming to Australia. Introducing students to nature and bringing their classroom to the outdoors has given her the opportunity to utilise her knowledge and skills to educate the importance of environmentalism and sustainability.  Jennifer joined the IWC team in July 2008, shifting her career into a different direction as she works toward obtaining her Masters of Education.

James Vercoe

Education, Training & Recruitment Assistant

James joined the IWC in June 2010, possessing a strong background in education programs in addition to administrative and logistical support.  From 2006 to 2008 he coordinated a youth program that educated high school students in debating and the political process. 

In 2009, James formally completed a Diploma of Events, obtaining a qualification based on strong study skills and comprehensive experience, finishing at the top of his class.  His skills in both written and oral communication provide him with the tools he needs to be an effective addition to the marketing team.  He has debated Queensland senators regarding youth involvement in democracy, at the intervarsity level, and has coached high school debating at the highest levels.  His passion for delivering quality education drives him in this role.

Dirk Roux

Director, IWC Africa

Dirk has over fifteen years of experience in studies and contract research related to the assessment and management of freshwater ecosystems, spanning the fields of limnology, aquatic toxicology, environmental monitoring and reporting, systematic conservation planning, policy and strategy development, and institutional learning and knowledge processes. Before joining Monash he worked for CSIR where he was a Principal Researcher and Fellow of the Natural Resources and Environment Unit.

Linda Downsborough

Researcher, IWC Africa

Linda has completed a Masters of Education (Environmental Education) in which she examined the social learning processes present within a citrus farming community in the Eastern Cape.  She has three years working experience spanning the fields of education, environmental education and conservation. Before joining Monash University in July 2009, Linda worked as a Project Executant for the Marine and Coastal Working Group, at the Endangered Wildlife Trust.

Research areas and interests:
•    Social learning, co learning and communities of practice
•    Conservation of Natural Resources

Todd Zeng

Asian Business Development Officer

Todd holds a Master of Business in Marketing from the University of Queensland. He also has a Graduate Diploma of Art in Translation and Interpreting for Chinese and English. As a NAATI accredited translator and interpreter, coupled with a strong business sense and extensive experience and network in Asian Pacific regional, Todd has been an independent conference interpreter and corporate advisor for a number of government departments, listed companies and NGOs including the IWC in the past 3 years.  
At the IWC Todd's role encompasses Asian business development and communication, Asian project management support and market research and marketing in Asia, with particular focus on China.

Diane Cousineau

Project Officer

Diane is a Montreal native, who came to Australia to study the IWC’s Master of Integrated Water Management. During her studies, she carried out research on a pilot project in Cambodia to evaluate the potential for combining market-based and community-driven approaches to improve rural access to sanitation. In Cambodia, Diane also worked with a team in designing affordable, easily-assembled latrine superstructures with direct input from villagers and tradesmen in the project area. Prior to joining the IWC, Diane completed a degree in civil engineering, spent several years volunteering with Engineers Without Borders (Canada) where she worked on a sanitation and water project in Mali, and analysed rural, environmental and agricultural international development projects with SNC-Lavalin Group.  Diane has a passion for toilets, ecosanitation, sanitation advocacy, good design, conscious consumption, and asset-based participatory approaches to community development. 

Janina Murta

Project Support Officer

Agnese Middleton

Marketing and Communications Manager

Agnese joined IWC in March of 2008 as the Marketing and Communications Officer. In her role, Agnese builds the profile and client base for the company by developing strategic marketing and communications plan with a strong focus on promoting the company’s education and training, applied research and expert services. 

Throughout her career, Agnese has gained extensive experience in competitor analysis and target market analysis. She has worked on international marketing campaigns, communications strategies, designed integrated promotional campaigns, as well as created and maintained websites.

Sharon Phillips

Communications Officer

Sharon has a background in written communications, website maintenance and quality assurance. In the IWC Sharon’s role includes writing press releases and marketing materials, setting up and maintaining the company website, editing and proof-reading IWC written communications, implementing and co-ordinating the quality management system, supporting the IWC board and supervising the administrative team and processes of the company. Sharon has also worked for a number of years as an executive assistant, office manager and as a teacher of special needs children, specialising in vision impairment and language disability.

Anke Groenewald

Accounts Officer

Anke has over 25 years experience in bookkeeping/account work, in Australia as well as in the Netherlands. She has worked for worldwide operating manufacturing companies in packaging materials and digital textile printing systems, in roles such as accounts officer, bookkeeper and purchasing manager. Throughout her career she has  gained extensive experience in a range of  accounting systems.
At IWC Anke is responsible for payroll, superannuation, accounts payable and accounts receivable.

Dominic Vedhamanickam

Graduate Accounts Officer

Radhika Gujar

Accounts Officer

Lorena Taylor

IT Officer

Lorena worked in the IT industry for 10 years in Canberra prior to moving to Brisbane with her family. 
Throughout her career she was engaged in various roles ranging from technical to managerial .
In her role in the IWC Lorena provides project and accounts support to the business team.